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thren . Bro . Sir H . EDWARDS , the distinguished Prov . Grand Master , and Bro . T . W . TEW , G . D . and Deputy Prov . Grand Master , and the members of Grand Lodge presented a most appropriate address , and received a most excellent reply . All the arrangements at the Town Hall seem to have been

excellent , for which the Craft was greatly indebted to Bro . J OSEPH BATLEY , the Town Clerk of Huddersfield , a very old and zealous Freemason , and P . P . G . R . for West Yorkshire . The Masonic body in Huddersfield is a very influential one , and contains among its members some of the leading inhabitants and some of the most respected citizens of that good town .

# * * WE are not among those who ever undervalue the need and value of . our " Lodges of Instruction . " On the contrary , this peculiar English institution is , in our humble opinion , the secret of much true Masonic work amongst us , a source of Masonic sympathy , and constitutes one of the main

reasons why our English working is so sound and so uniform on the whole . That there are varieties of working , customs , and usage , Bro . J AMES STEVENS will tell us ; but it is a very remarkable fact , explain it as you will , that there

is , in truth , little essential difference of working in our lodges . We are glad therefore to note the activity of these lodges , and feel we owe a debt of gratitude to them and to many able Preceptors for seeking so carefully to maintain in vital accuracy and full efficiency our Masonic lore and our

cherished ritual . * * * THE striking progress of the Clerkenwell Lodge must be a source of great satisfaction to its friends and founders . Under the administrative ability of Bros . E DGAR BOWYER , J AMES TERRY , the new WORSHIPFUL MASTER , and other " good brethren and true , " it has done sound work in Freemasonry ,

liberally aided the Charities , and been conspicuous for a genial hospitality . At its foundation hopes were expressed and good wishes offered for its Masonic career , and these have all been verified and illustrated by its steady advance , and its praiseworthy activity . The Clerkenwell Lodge has our " hearty good wishes . "

The Grand Treasurership.

THE GRAND TREASURERSHIP .

On Tuesday last a numerously attended meeting took place at the Holborn Restaurant , at which more than a hundred metropolitan and provincial lodges were represented , a number of Grand Officers being also present , thus evincing the great interest that is taken in the annual election secondedand carried

of Grand Treasurer . A resolution was proposed , , unanimously to the effect that Bro . Horace Brooks Marshall , C . C ., D . L ., is a lit and worthy brother to succeed Bro . John Derby Allcroft as Grand Treasurer for 1 SS 4 , the brethren present pledging themselves to use the whole of their influence to ensure his election .

To the majority of London Freemasons Bro . Marshall is well known for the unflagging interest he is ever taking in the cause of Freemasonry ; but , for the information of our country brethren , it may be as well to state that he is Junior Warden and Past Treasurer of the Royal Hanover Lodge , No , 1777 ; Worshipful Master and one of the Founders of the Brixton Lodge ,

No . 1949 ; Senior Warden of the Farringdon Lodge , No . 1745 ; and a companion of the Aldersgate Chapter , No . 1657 ; that he is a distinguished member of the Court of Common Council of the City ot London ; a Commissioner of the Court of Lieutenancy ; a Vice-Patron of the Royal Masonic

Institution for Boys , of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , and of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , for all of which he has on many occasions held the office of Steward , and was this year unanimously elected Treasurer to the Board of Stewards at the Boys' and Girls' Festivals .

In addition to our worthy brother ' s exertions on behalf of Freemasonry he has unsparingly devoted both labour and funds to Charities of a more general character , among which we may mention the Alexandra Orphanage , the Orphan Working School , the Asylum for Fatherless Children , the Children ' s Home , the Home for Little Boys , the London Orphan Asylum ,

and the National Orphan Home . Did our space permit we could add considerably to the foregoing , but we feel certain that sufficient has alread y been written to prove that Bro . Marshall is well worthy of the office for which he has been proposed , and this being the case we will conclude this short notice by expressing a hope that our brother's life may be indefinitel y prolonged to the great advantage of suffering humanity .

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

Though there are always likely to be many divergent opinions among brethren on such vexed questions as the origin of Freemasonry , the antiquity of the Third Degree , and the relative values of the systems which lie outside the pale of pure Craft Masonry , there can be no two opinions upon one point , namely , that the great body of Anglo-Saxon Freemasons ,

and especially that section of it which has chosen the Heir Apparent to the British Crown as its ruler , is scrupulously observant of the great watchwords of the Order—loyalty and charity . The brethren are very far from arrogating to themselves the exclusive possession among their fellowsubjects of the Queen or their kindred in other countries of these noble

qualities ; but there is no exaggeration in saying that no more loyal body of men exists than the Freemasons of the British Empire , while none has better exhibited , as well in practice as by precept , that charity which has rightly been described as the greatest of all the virtues . It may be , of course , as was once suggested by our Pro Grand Master , that there are countries in which Masonry is looked upon both by its own followers and the outside

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

world as being something else than a plain system of morality . It is not every Masonic organisation which can claim with justice to be absolutely non-political and unsectarian in matters affecting religion . We fear there is at least a certain amont of truth in the allegation that continental Freemasonry has not been always free from bias in matters political and

religious . But no such allegations have ever been advanced , at least by impartial critics , against our English Masonic system . At times people have shown themselves incredulous as to our possessing any real secrets , secrets that are worth the trouble of keeping ; at times they have smiled at , and even derided , our simplicity in wearing aprons and regalia , while at

times our frequent observance of what is known among the elect as " the Fourth Degree , " has brought with it a certain amount of condemnation . But the British public , albeit it is occasionally given to carping criticism , is always in the long run both just and generous . They have long known that men of every shade of politics and of different

religious faiths meet together in our lodge rooms for no other purposes than the practice of our rites and the cultivation of social and fraternal intercourse . They know the princes and nobles of the land are either among our chief rulers or simple members of the Order ; but , above all things , they ungrudgingly recognise that , even if we do occasionally indulge in " the

feast of reason and the flow of soul , " we are likewise unselfish enough to make annual provision for our poorer brethren , their widows , and their orphan children . It may be considered boastful on our part if we point to the existence of our several charitable institutions as evidence of the value of our English Freemasonry as a mere organisation of good fellows . But

even this modest expression of self-complacency is excusable , if not justifiable . The tree is judged by its fruit ; and the fruit which is produced from our English Masonic tree is very pleasant to look upon . Let it be our business to describe , in a series of short articles , the latest , though not the least valuable , of its specimens .

The establishment of a Charity Fund dates almost as far back as the establishment , in 1717 , of the Grand Lodge of England . To the Earl of Dalkeith , Grand Master in 1723 , belongs the honour of having originated the idea . In 1724 , during the Grand Mastership of his successor , Charles , Duke of Richmond , a Committee of Charity was instituted , and but a few

years elapsed ere the necessary measures were taken for raising and administering the fund at the disposal of the said Committee , among the earlier recipients of it being Bro . Anthony Sayer , the premier Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England . This fund is now administered by the Lodge of Benevolence , which meets monthly , and relieves all worthy

applicants , according to the nature of their several circumstances . Its income , which consists of specially alloted fees and a capitation payment from every registered member of the Craft holding under the United Grand Lodge of

England—save and except those belonging to foreign and colonial lodgesamounts to between £ 9000 and £ 10 , 000 ; but latterly there have been years in which even this large income has been exceeded by the disbursements to poor and distressed brethren and their widows .

Had nothing else been done towards alleviating the distress of our poorer brethren and their families than the establishment of this Fund of Benevolence , we English brethren would still be justified in considering the institution of Freemasonry as being worthy of the world ' s respect . But though the oldest , the Fund of Benevolence is not the only one of our English

Charitable organisations . In 1788 , mainly through the instrumentality of Bro . the Chevalier Ruspini , a member of the Royal Household , and under the patronage of her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cumberland , wife of our then Grand Master , the Duke of Cumberland , was instituted what is now known as the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . Ten years later , its

sister Institution , the Boys' School , was founded , and here again the initiative was taken by private members of the Society , the earlier efforts being made by brethren of what is familiarly known as an •*ancient" lodge , while the " moderns" likewise had their School for Boys . When the two sects , so to speak , into which English Masonry was then divided , joined hands

together and became one body , the two schools were likewise amalgamated . Both these Institutions are supported almost entirely by the voluntary contributions of our lodges and brethren , and what these amount to annually is too well known to need repetition here . Lastly , we come to the subject of these papers , the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , the foundation of

which is due partly to the enterprise of individual brethren , and in part to the liberality of Grand Lodge . To private enterprise belongs the honour of having taken the initiative in providing for the wants of the aged Mason by establishing the Asylum at Croydon , and for many years the promoters went on persuing their honourable labours , not only uncountenanced by the

members of the Craft , but in the teeth of very serious opposition from many of our then influential Masons . When , at length Grand Lodge instituted the Male Benevolent Fund , the two organisations , though in pursuit of the same laudable object , were kept separate and distinct , nor was it till some years subsequently that the Asylum for Aged Masons and the Benevolent

bunds as established by the United Grand Lodge of England , with supplementary grants from the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter , were amalgamated into one Institution . But , as in the case of the Schools , the main support of this Charity is derived from the voluntary contributions of the brethren ; and as in their case , the good work which was commenced on

a modest scale has now assumed magnificent proportions , so that hundreds of old and indigent brethren and widows of brethren have had reason to bless the memory of the founders of the Asylum at Croydon , and the generosity of our Grand Lodge in establishing the Male and Female Annuity Funds .

Most of our readers are aware that Bro . R . J . Crucefix it was to whom must legitimately be assigned the honour of having established a permanent home for those brethren whom misfortune had overtaken and who , from